An attaching machine for attaching buttons each having a design such as a character or a figure thereon to a fabric of garments or the like has widely been used. In the attaching machine as described above, a button (such as, for instance, a decorative button having a attaching leg) is fed from a feed hopper provided in the upper section of the attaching machine to an inclined shoot, then guided through this shoot to a horizontal guide path, and then fed into a receiving section of a lower mold, provided at a button attaching position with use of a push bar which is called pusher. At the button attaching position, an upper mold aligned relative to the lower mold is provided at a lower edge of a plunger which can move up and down, and a concave section for receiving another button (such as a female button or a male button having a receiving section for caulking the attaching leg, for instance, in a fastener) which functions as a partner for the button above is provided in a holding section provided on the bottom surface of the upper mold. After the button is pushed in the lower mold, the pusher is drawn away with a fabric overlaid on the lower mold, and then the plunger is moved down by a driving force to caulk the attaching leg held in the lower mold and hook it in the receiving section for the button held in the upper mold, thus the two buttons being attached on the fabric.
When a button with a character or a figure designed on a surface thereof is attached on a fabric, it is required to accurately position the character or figure on the fabric, and there has been known the method in which an orientation restriction tab is provided on the button to be held in the lower mold and the button is held in the lower mold in the prespecified orientation with using the tab, and there is the device shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 as a representative device for achieving the purpose (Refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei (correctly Sho) 52-60740).
In FIGS. 1 and 2 each showing a button feeder 100 for a button attaching machine, a character or a figure is designed on a surface (a lower surface in the figures) of a button B, while an upright attaching leg L is projected from a rear surface (top surface in the figures) thereof. The button B is fed from a feed hopper (not shown) provided in an upper section of the attaching machine to an inclined shoot 101, guided through this shoot to a horizontal guide path 103, and then is fed into a receiving section of a lower mold (not shown) provided at a button attaching position A.
The horizontal guide path 103 has a slender guide base plate 107, and a straight guide path 103 defined by a first guide member 109 and a second guide member 113 each fixed on a top surface of the base plate and having a substantially inverted T-shaped form, and guides a pusher 105. A forward section of the second guide member 113 (on the side of the button attaching position) forms an adjustable guide member (shown in the partially broken state) with an indexing member 115 provided under the guide member 113 in the state where it can smoothly move, and the indexing member 115 is always biased by a spring 119 restricted by a holding screw 117 toward the guide path 103. An edge section in the guide groove side of the indexing member 115 is inclined with knurls provided with a prespecified space therebetween on a surface thereof to form a knurled surface 121 (FIG. 3), and this knurled surface 121 contacts a rim R of the button pushed by the pusher 105.
As shown in FIG. 2, a concave section 129 having an arresting wall 127 for capturing the tab T of the button and suppressing its rotation is provided on a bottom surface of the pusher 105.
When the button feeder having the indexing mechanism as described above operates, the button B fed into the guide path 103 is pushed by a tip of the pusher 105 driven by a driving force source. When the button reaches a position of the indexing member 115, the rim R of the button B is resisted by the knurls on the knurled surface 121 of the indexing member 115, so that the button starts rotation at a point where it contacts the knurled surface 121 as a supporting point. When the tab T of the button contacts the arresting wall 127 in association with the button's rotation, rotation of the button is stopped and an orientation of the button is fixed. With the operations as described above, the button can be attached at the desired position with the right posture and orientation.
It is generally recognized that the button indexing device described above has an excellent indexing function when handling a metal button, but there is the problem that the function is not fully shown when handling plastic buttons each having a design with a specific orientation such as a character or a figure, which are recently often used. Namely, when a rim of a plastic button contacts the knurled surface 121 of the indexing member 115, the rim is slightly ground, so that grooves between knurls on the knurled surface are filled with the plastics ground off from the plastic button within a relatively short period of time while attaching the plurality of buttons, and therefore the function is degraded with the accurate indexing becoming difficult and sometimes attaching fault to a fabric occurs. It is conceivable to use a frictional material such as rubber in place of the inclined surface, but a lubricant required for smooth operations of the pusher adheres to the inclined surface, which makes the accurate indexing extremely difficult.